The Catcher of Dogs.

This is a dream I had last night. Well, most of it. I added scenes and tried to mesh it together so it would come across as a meshing story. If you can help it out with criticism, that'd be swell. I also want to change the name, so I'm open to suggestions on that part;

The Dog Catcher

I was sitting on the grass with Joe at the park, reading city and local rules laws and regulations about keeping a dog. I thought it would be best to know the legalities, being in a new town. Scotty was with us, on a leash. He was a small Scottish terrier, gray in color. Overall, he’s not the typical Scottie. He was coy and loyal, quite and contented.

I was picking up the end of the leash, preparing to go when a dog catcher came along. He saw Scotty and made to pick him up. The man chased Scotty around my blanket, unable to snatch him. I merely picked Scotty up from this mini chase.

“That’s a stray dog.” The man said. A quizzical look came upon my face. Obviously annoyed by this mans stupidity. “You know we have rules about things like that around here.” He spat at me. Pure evil was writ on his countenance.

“I know then rules. He’s on a leash. I hold the end of that leash.” I contorted still holding Scotty.

“My mistake...” The man’s face changed to that of a contented stalker. It was that of a man watching his prey, with a small sickly smile on his lips. I turned and walked off, leaving the man staring after me. I also left Joe behind asleep on the blanket at the park. I was sure he’d understand later.

Joe came back and required an explanation, which I gladly gave him. He’d not seen the dog catcher, but was very concerned having perceived the situation from my point of view.

…

Joe and I decided it would be best to let a room in our home. The house was large enough with plenty of bedrooms, and it was only the two of us with Scotty. We had several inquiries but no one stuck. Eventually I left Joe to figure out the situation on his own. I trusted him enough for that. Weeks went by, until one day, on my return home with Scotty; there was a car in the drive. Curiosity seized me; I picked up my pace excited to see who was there. Joe had let the room. He introduced me to a man called Boyd. I could have sworn I’d met this man before.

“Pleased to meet cha” he’d said. His voice, the look in his eyes, and that smirk that played as his smile, set me off. But I could not place him. I welcomed him attempting to put my suspicions aside. Joe said he liked the man fine, when I brought up my qualm later, when we were in private. I just had a bad feeling. I was certain I’d met, seen and heard this man before.

Over time, my feelings of unease did not subside. I started to sense Boyd’s secret sadistic stares. I took to taking Scotty with me everywhere, he became like my well behaved small child. I don’t know why specifically, but I did not trust the man around my dog, or my self, for any matter.

…

After a long day with Scotty at the office, I came home already with the feeling of apprehension weighing heavy.

“Joe?” I called out when I opened the door. No answer. All of the lights were on, I knew he was home. “Joe, are you home?” the feeling of trepidation continued to grow. The sense of utter peril, that something hand undoubtedly gone wrong was imminent. I was working myself into a frenzy, and my hand was still on the knob, where I stood in the door with Scotty.

I heard a crash from somewhere in the back of the house. I took off in the direction of the sound, through the house, with leash in hand. The closet door was open, and there lay a huge mess strewn across the hall and down into the sitting room.

“Joe?” I meekly uttered, expecting to be stunned with the worst. “Are you here?” a tremor ran thru my voice. There came a rustling from the other side of the closet door. Joe stepped out covered in dust and grime. The look of him put a shock thru me. He looked like one of those zombies from a Hollywood picture. He only lacked to gait when he emerged from the closet. A slight bob was in his manner as he stood there staring at the chaos in the hall before him. He’d still not noticed me and Scotty standing there. With his staggered head bob, he mechanically turned his head, surveying the items that lie before him. I was stock still. Alarm must still have been on my face. When he bobbed his head finally in our direction, he jumped and gave a start.

“Geezes! You startled me!” he yelped, pulling ear-buds from his ears. I’d not noticed them before. That accounted for the head bobbing. “I didn’t hear you come in.” he continued.

“I gathered.” A general calm was in my voice as I began to relax.

“I thought I’d clean out this walk-in. there’s so much stuff in here we don’t use.” This was true; the evidence in front of me was enough to convince me of that.

“Well, good luck with that.” I said turning to go shut the front door, though the feeling of unease still was gnawing at my belly.

…

I still had a worry on my mind. It would not subside over time. Nor would it spare me from the scares that seemed to be coming at me almost regularly now. Each seemed to have little to no foundation for my fears. I wondered if I were going crazy. Why I was imagining bad things happening. Why I always thought the worst of everything. I jumped to conclusions involving the worst case scenarios. But the feeling of foreboding was prevalent everywhere I went, and then intensified at home.

Boyd didn’t give me much trouble. I was still on edge with him. We’d talk and be civil around each other. Joe even spent time with him as friends would. But the look in his eyes and the smirk on his face all the time, made it hard for me to try and trust him. I did not trust him.

…

After dinner one evening, maybe a month or three after my scare with Joe in the hall closet, all three of us were home. Joe was cleaning up the house during the commercials of his show on television. Boyd was probably watching with him. Scotty was by my side as I did the dishes and cleaned the kitchen. I’m sure he didn’t like that I’d taken to leaving his leash and collar on at all times. It was only for my own security and to calm my fears that I felt the need to keep Scotty near me. It was a long leash, but not too long, that I could ever loose site of him. Still, it helped very little with the calming of my nerves.

“You know Scotty…” I was talking to the dog! “I am sorry about the leash. You don’t mind, do you? ...” the sounds from the living room filtered around the door. It was a low murmur of conversation with the accent of the televisions as a mere background noise to my background noise. “They probably think I’m crazy.” I sighed. “But you understand, right?” I’d become a little calmer over the passing weeks with each scare. I was getting used to the feelings that rode on me like a leech. “Of course you understand.” Scotty looked up at me. A smile danced in his puppy dog eyes. “You know I’m not crazy, I’m just…” there came what sounded like a muffled yelp. “… oversensitive.” The last word leaked from my lips as a whisper, as my fear grabbed hold of me full strength once again.

I picked up Scotty and held him close to my breast, like a mother gripping her child. Awkward and uneasily I walked through the swinging kitchen door. The low hum from the television still played, but all conversations had ceased. Warily, I walked down the hall towards the landing that led to the sitting room. There was no one there. Startled by movement form the corner of my eye, I turned toward the stairwell. Boyd and Joe came from behind the crevice created by the wall. Joe was hardly moving. He looked almost paralyzed and was gasping for breath, only no sound of air thru in passage came. He was upright and walked forward mechanically when pushed. A look of terror was caressed his face. He looked at me pleadingly, with the eyes of someone about to die. Boyd had him by the collar bone. The same look that always was on his face plagued it now. Only now it seemed even more sinister than I could ever have imagined.

“You know…” Boyd said casually. I stood dumbfounded and completely engaged by my despair. “We have rules about dogs around here.” His smile deepened into a sneer. It came back to me in a flood. This was the dog Catcher!

The recognition and fear must have shown on my face. He laughed, NO cackled. Boyd started side stepping with Joe in tow. I countered his steps in the opposing direction. The dog catcher spoke menacingly, but quietly at me. “I do believe I have a few loose ends to take care of, and then I’ll be needing to move out. Consider this my notice.” He was still inching closer to the closet. He opened it up and pushed Joe inside. “This will only take a minute.” I was now at the base of the stair, with no where else to turn. “I don’t like an audience when I kill.” I gasped in horror. A slight laugh escaped him again, and he stepped into the closet.

I was frozen. I stood for what seemed like an eternity. Everything was silent. I couldn’t hear anything over the pounding of my heart and the whirr of my blood as it circulated past my ears. I didn’t even hear if Joe gave a final scream. I didn't hear if his bones broke or he was able to take a final breath after all. I slowly started backing up the stairs. I willed myself to move when I sensed the fear emanating thru Scotty’s body. When I felt Joes life force was gone. The dog catcher emerged from the closet. His face was smeared with blood, his hands and the front of his shirt, stained in the gore that was once my Joe.

He smiled a ghastly side smile, revealing pearly white canines. “Tasty” He guffawed. “Who’s next?”

I turned and ran up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I slammed and locked the landing door behind me. Then I darted into my room doing the same. There was no way out up here. No way would I be able to find one in time. I could hear his steps on the stairs, coming up slowly. He was biding his time. I searched in vain for a place to hide. The closet was the only place I could find. I went in and locked this too. Pressing myself against the clothes, I clutched a freighted Scotty. I waited and watched thru the slits. All I could see was my bed against the opposite wall. All I could hear were the steps of the man who held my imminent end.

Too soon, much too soon, I could hear him in the hall. He’d gotten thru the landing door with no sounds of struggle. I then had the stifle the fist whimpers I heard from Scotty. Shushing him I fear we gave away our position. Not that it would have taken long for him to find us. He was now at my door. He merely turned the knob and crept in. My eyes widened in horror. Hadn’t I locked them?

What sort of man was this? Who could come into a home and befriend a man, then turn and kill him with no evidence of remorse? Who could walk thru locked doors uninhibited? Why had he come to torment us?

“Now where could they be?” He spoke as if this was some sort of game of Hide-and-go-seek one plays with small children. He knelt down and peered under the bed. “Nope, nut under here. Not behind the bureau... or under the desk.” He narrated his every move. Standing with hands on hips, pretending to be stumped… “Must have left. I guess I’ll just have to wait a while fro them to get back.” He moved over and ventured to prop himself up on my bed. He leaned up against the headboard, brought his legs out in front of him and folded his hands behind his head. He sat there staring in my direction. He stared thru the tiny slits. Into my eyes he stared, boring a chasm into my soul.